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Family
business
Schobel
prepares for long-awaited NFL draft
Bo
Schobel is following in his family’s footsteps going
from a TCU jersey to an NFL one.
By
Crystal Forester
It
may not be easy to follow the path of others, but Bo Schobel
takes the next step this weekend.
Schobel, who has two cousins who already play in the National
Football League, is expected to be picked No. 2 in the
fourth round by the San Diego Chargers, according to ESPN
Insider.
His cousins, Aaron, a second round pick by Buffalo in
2001, and Matt, a third round pick by Cincinnati in 2002,
putting the Horned Frog jersey aside to don an NFL jersey.
Schobel follows what is becoming a tradition of TCU football
players. His father, Bob, was the first in the family
to play for the Horned Frogs and graduated in 1972. Aaron
was recruited by TCU in 1996. Matt followed his brother
in 1998 after a year at Texas A&M. Schobel finally
jumped on the bandwagon in 1999, redshirting his freshman
year.
“There was no way he would go anywhere else,”
Bo’s mother, Mary Jane, said.
Anticipation and excitement mixed in with a little bit
of nervousness is the way Schobel said he is feeling before
the draft.
There is no way to tell what round Schobel will be picked
in, if he is even picked at all, because of the way the
teams change their positions in the draft, head football
coach Gary Patterson said.
“Half of the battle is getting there,” he said.
“Over the past 25 years guys you thought would go
early, didn’t go.”
The fact that Aaron and Matt went in high in rounds may
be a sign that Schobel will go early, Patterson said.
“It all comes down to who’s picking and in what
round,” he said.
Aaron says he definitely thinks Schobel will be drafted,
but still has some things he needs to work on.
“I think he will go anywhere from the second to fourth
round,” he said. “This is a strong draft and
that’s working against him.”
Schobel predicts he will be picked in the second to third
round of the draft.
Besides playing football, Schobel has a wife, Lindsay,
and a son, Dayne, 3, and graduated with a secondary education
degree in December.
Schobel and Lindsay are high school sweethearts and were
married March 3, 2000.
Lindsay says they are very nervous about the draft and
she has not started to look for a job, even though she
graduates May 8.
“We have no idea what to expect,” she said.
“We don’t even know where we will be living.”
Although everything is up in the air right now Lindsay
said she feels pretty sure he will be drafted.
To stay close to their hometown, Columbus, Lindsay said
she would like Schobel to be drafted by Dallas.
Schobel doesn’t care where he plays professional
football as long as he gets to play, he said.
Schobel is an intelligent football player who is big and
fast, Patterson said.
“He’s played a lot of downs for us,” he
said. “Only time will tell how he will do in the
NFL.”
Schobel turned out better numbers for TCU than his cousins
did when they played here.
His family and friends consider Schobel to be quiet, laid
back and family oriented.
“He comes to work and then goes home to his wife
and kid,” Patterson said.
Schobel thinks of football as a job, and is a competitive
person, Mary Jane said.
“He saw Aaron and Matt make names for themselves
and he tries really hard to do the same,” she said.
Mary Jane said her son is not a high-profile person.
“He’s not a person who yells and screams,”
she said. “He would rather keep himself steady.”
Schobel started out his athletic career as a baseball
player and has always been a good athlete, Mary Jane said.
“He always enjoyed football, but by the time he was
in junior high he knew he had to play,” she said.
It was natural that Schobel went into athletes because
he is built for it and a lot of his family members were
athletes, Mary Jane said.
“He always excelled and did well,” she said.
“We’re really proud of him.”
During high school and college, Aaron, Matt and Schobel
had a short chance play football together, Aaron said.
Growing up the cousins “just messed around in the
yard,” Aaron said.
To prepare for the draft, Schobel has been working out
at a training facility in Houston this semester along
with other potential draft picks from all over the nation,
Mary Jane said. He has also been watching what he is eating,
she said.
During Schobel’s workout in Houston, Lindsay has
been attending TCU and their son has been with his grandparents,
Lindsay said.
“I can’t wait for this to be over,” she
said. “It’s been very stressful.”
The time in January and February spent in Houston Schobel
worked out at least five hours a day, six days a week,
he said.
“The hardest part was being away from (Lindsay and
Dayne) and trying to go back and forth,” Schobel
said.
The NFL Combine, where potential draftees go to perform
for scouts, was stressful for Schobel , he said.
“It was like a meat market,” Schobel said. “They
take you height, weight and watch us work out.”
The Dallas Cowboys also gave Schobel the chance to work
out with the team one weekend this semester. They bring
in players from all over the Fort Worth-Dallas area.
“I wasn’t there to learn from them, it was more
they were learning about me,” Schobel said.
When the draft is over the new football players will probably
have to go to their respective teams Monday or Tuesday,
then stay for three or four weeks for a mini camp.
After watching Aaron and Matt deal with the transition
into the NFL, Mary Jane said Lindsay and Schobel will
probably rent a townhouse or house when they first move.
“He’s lucky to have Aaron and Matt to learn
from,” Mary Jane said. “He can watch what they
did right and wrong.”
If Aaron and Schobel have to play against each other Aaron
said he doesn’t think it would be a big deal, because
they play on the same side.
“I would watch from the sideline while he plays,”
he said.
If Schobel ever had to play against Matt, a tight end,
Bo thinks it will be fun and exciting, he said, and he
would be happy to see Aaron if their teams ever played
against each other.
Dayne, as well as the other grandsons, will probably be
pressured to attend TCU when they come of age, Schobel
said. Dayne knows the name of football players that hang
out with Schobel, he said.
“Dayne has grown up around athletics,” she said.
“He is good friends with the players and coaches.”
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Stephen
Spillman/Photo Editor
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| Defensive
end Bo Schobel looks to join his two cousins at
the next level in an NFL uniform. |
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